


Demon Summoning 101

by Madame_aZure



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Demons, Gen, Witches, and why summoning a demon in your livingroom is a bad idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2021-04-05
Packaged: 2021-04-20 11:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21972535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madame_aZure/pseuds/Madame_aZure
Summary: Summoning a demon doesn’t always go as expected.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darkicedragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkicedragon/gifts).

> @darkicedragon thank you so much for the gift-fic, you adorable bean, you! You made my Christmas morning 3x as awesome!  
Happy Holidays!

It felt like he didn’t think this through enough… or perhaps he overthought it to the point it no longer made any sense.

Back at the Union, it always felt _wrong_ trying to summon his demon. Despite having the knowledge of the sigil and the gravity of acquiring a demon beaten into him, despite having studied and memorized every single rune and line to a tee, despite having drawn and tried again and again, he’d never succeeded.

It always felt nauseatingly _wrong_. 

As if the sigil was calling out to something, but something else was answering, its voice twisted, distorted, butchered painfully by the wrong runes. The pained cries still sent shivers down M’s back when he remembered them. It was hurting the demon and M could feel it.

He never tried it again ever since he’d escaped, and had no intention of doing it, not until he spoke with Frankenstein.

It was awkward to admit to him that he was a failure, unable to even contact a demon, let alone summon it.

_ “That would be the Union’s fault, not yours. Summoning a demon is not just about memorizing and perfectly recreating some run-of-the-mill sigil. Well, not for everyone, at least. Imagine it like,” Frankenstein paused for a moment, thinking, “like building a door. You need to allow yourself to feel, to know the guest you’re inviting in to be able to build a proper door for them.” _

He said he wouldn’t do it but he was… curious. Past the pain and wrongness of it all, every time he tried summoning the demon, a sense of familiarity lied with it. A comforting, warm sense of familiarity.

What harm was there in just drawing the sigil? After all, he would most likely end up failing to summon the demon anyway.

So, one sleepless night, he decided to take Frankenstein’s advice. 

After he cleaned up his room to make enough space for the sigil, he started drawing the lines and the letters as he’s done a thousand times before at the Union, but at some point he allowed himself to just… feel. Feel the flow of the energy in the sigil, in the blood, and like a river allowed it choose its own path. Soon enough his sigil had bloomed into something he’d never seen before, lines crossing where they shouldn’t, runes that had no place there, and for the first time, he felt _the pull._

Something – someone was reaching through it, anchoring themselves into his soul, pulling themselves through into his world and before M knew it –

\- he was squished against the door of the room by a mountain of brown fluff.

As it turned out, it had been a very, very bad idea to summon a demon in his apartment.

The beast, which right now looked more like a giant brown ball of fur with a tail, was currently filling up the entire room, having crushed anything that stood in its way – like all the furniture M had painstakingly moved to the side to make enough room for the sigil – pressing against the walls, and most importantly against the ceiling, which was starting to show cracks.

“Shit –“ M didn’t expect the demon to be that big! Well, Frankenstein had warned him that demons could take different shapes and sizes depending on the power of the witch, but he didn’t think he’d be this ridiculously gigantic!

“Ah, my apologies,” the demon seemed to have finally noticed him and the fact he was squishing him against the door. He was kind enough to try to push against the opposite side of the room – crushing the furniture even more and cracking a window in the process – to give M more space to breathe, as well as try to shuffle around and turn to face him.

The demon looked somewhat like a wolf, with long brown fur, horns jutting out of his forehead, curling to the back, large fangs pushing past his lips, his claws digging into the floor, splintering the wood.

“My name is Kentas.”

** * * * **

Well, this certainly didn’t go as he had imagined.

First off, by actually succeeding in summoning the demon, second off the demon taking the shape and _size _it did, and third off, the demon wrecking his room with his butt.

As he was trying to take it all in and make some sense of it all, his familiar had returned and to say he was quite surprised and displeased with the new acquisition, it was an understatement. 

His cat familiar was currently staring down the demon, who was trying to curl into the opposite corner of the room as far away from the cat as possible in a polite way of saying he understood that the house was his territory.

“Tao, stop that,” M chided him, walking over to where the familiar was currently a ball of fluff as he was trying to make himself look bigger, tail swishing around nervously, a low hiss in his throat.

_ “Dog!”  _ Tao told him, absolutely offended, still staring Kentas down.

“I know, I know,” M sighed, picking him up and setting him on his shoulders, the cat taking his comfortable, familiar position with ease, still glaring at Kentas. “Behave,” M told him, scratching him behind his ears, the cat’s eyes closing slightly in delight because pets could tame any beast, including Tao.

“I apologize for frightening the little one,” Kentas said politely, shifting slightly which caused more cracks to appear on the ceiling.

“It’s fine –“

_ “I’m not little!”  _

“No you’re not,” M said appeasing the cat familiar with more pets. “I didn’t think you’d be this big,” he said looking back at Kentas.

“I simply took the form your power allowed me,” Kentas replied, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Can you make yourself smaller?” as M would’ve very much liked his room back.

“I am… not sure how to do that,” the demon admitted. He had to admit it had been exhilarating to be able to grow into his bonded witch’s power, the rift the witch had created allowing him to pass through with an ease he’d never felt before. Before, most he had been able to do is catch a glance of him. Now he was actually through, actually here!  


_ “Make me bigger!”  _ The cat familiar suddenly chirped.

“You’re enough trouble the size you are, Tao,” M rolled his eyes.

_ “I’m not trouble! I’m a cat!” _ Tao bumped M’s cheek with his head.

“Yeah, yeah, clever cat, I know.”

_ “Clever cat!” _ Tao purred with pride and delight and M huffed at his familiar’s antics.

Now, going back to the problem at hand… he’s going to need help. All his spellbooks have been wrecked in the summoning, though, and his phone was lost somewhere under all of Kentas’s fur. He needed another way of contact.

“Tao, go get Frankenstein for me,” M asked his familiar, doing a quick enchantment on him. Frankenstein should know how to deal with this.

_ “Okay!” _ Tao meowed as the enchantment spread over his fur.

“Frankenstein?” Kentas asked cautiously, watching as the cat dissolved into a black mist and disappeared.

“A friend,” M explained. Who would hopefully be able to make Kentas a bit smaller. Hopefully.

“Are you… going to send me back?” Kentas asked rather quickly.

“What?”

“Am I not up to your expectations?” Was he not good enough for the witch? He was strong! He could prove it! Should he have grown more into the witch’s power? He could do that! 

“What’s this about?” M was now confused. Expectations? He expected to _fail_. 

“You said you were calling a friend.” 

“Ah,” M blinked as he got it, “what the friend is coming to help me with is making your form smaller. You’re about to break through the ceiling and I don’t think my neighbor will be happy with that,” he said, pointing to the ceiling.

“Oh,” Kentas noted, looking up and unfortunately driving his horns straight through the ceiling and leaving two large gashes, M wincing because he would have to repair and replace everything. “Understandable.”

Still… “Do you want to go back?” M wouldn’t keep him there if he didn’t want to.

“I would like to stay a little longer, get to know you better. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

“You’ve been… waiting for me?”

“Yes!” Kentas replied and if the cracking of the floorboards were any indication, he seemed to be pawing at the ground in excitement.

“Oh… sorry to disappoint you then,” M looked away, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans so they wouldn’t curl into fists.

“You didn’t! You’re very strong!” Just like his father was.

Wat?

“I think you’re mistaking.” He had to.

“I’m not” the determination in Kentas’ voice made M fall quiet. “I have a request,” he began after a moment of silence and ah – there it was. A deal.

Carefully, “Say it.”

“Would you give me your name?”

M blinked. Oh, just that? His name? He just wanted to know his name?

“M. Just M.”

“M, it is an honor to be able to fight by your side,” Kentas said without a hint if hesitation and bowed, and when he stood back up… broke yet another small piece of the ceiling.

Oh boy…


	2. Chapter 2

Thankfully, Frankenstein arrived sooner than expected – Kentas was doing his best to stay still and avoid wrecking anything else simply with his sheer size, but to be honest, even so M wasn’t sure how long his apartment would hold.

Frankenstein entered the room, instinct making M take a step back when his demon followed him. 

No matter how many times M saw him, there was something about that demon that made him uneasy, the way passing by a caged beast’s enclosure would. Something in the way he moved, every step, every gesture brimming with a frightening power concealed under a veil of easy, relaxed confidence.

He was massive, standing as tall as Frankenstein, and if one did not know what to look for and did not take the size into consideration, they might’ve believed him to be just a wolf. It was as if Frankenstein had asked him to try and blend in, and he had made an effort… but got the sizing wrong. Or rather, meant it, because M had noticed the way Muzaka seemed to guard Frankenstein, always keeping to his left side, moving closer when Frankenstein needed to lean against something to rest his bad leg. 

M never asked – didn’t dare ask what happened, but couldn’t help but wonder. What kind of injury could a witch like Frankenstein sustain that he couldn’t heal? 

Still, Muzaka being there made M a bit nervous. What if Kentas felt threatened or did something that would cause Muzaka to think he was a threat to his witch? Things could turn ugly.

All his fears were dispelled when Muzaka barked out a laugh. 

“Now I understand why Tao said you had a dog problem,” Frankenstein said with amusement, petting said cat that was now snuggled in his arms.

_ “Dog!” _ Tao hissed, but seemed like he couldn’t be bothered to stop being pet for the sake of defeating the dog that was invading his territory. He could do that another day. Pets for now.

“Good ta see I wasn’t the only one to almost level a building upon summoning!” Muzaka added, his laughter quieting into a soft chuckle.

“I messed up,” M said, as he wasn’t sure how else he could put this. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t even think he was going to be able to summon his demon.

“Quite the contrary, I’d say,” Frankenstein replied, looking to Kentas. “My name is Frankenstein, and he is Muzaka.”

“Kentas,” he bowed, and when he lifted his head, again, he thrust his horns into the ceiling and M winced, Muzaka snickering again.

“How do I make him smaller?” M asked urgently, watching as little pieces of the ceiling fell to the floor.

“We have some semblance of control over our demon’s forms, to help them fit in. Think if it as showing them what to wear while in our world. I suppose he was excited to meet you,” Frankenstein eyed the demon, whose ears perked up and whole demeanor said _‘YES’_.

“How do I do that?” 

“The same way you created his sigil. Allow your power to envelop him, guide him to his form, and allow his power to help you,” he looked at Muzaka fondly, an unspoken question between them, Muzaka giving him a small nod. Frankenstein then balanced Tao on his right arm, the cat grumbling at the action and at Frankenstein so rudely stopping from petting him, but again, not bothering to move too much. Frankenstein pressed the back of his hand to Muzaka’s cheek, Muzaka leaning into the touch with his eyes closed. 

In an instant, his fur started glowing with power. His form began to shift, his fangs elongating until they passed his lips, his claws now larger, digging into the floor. Two pairs of horns grew on each side of his head, and when he shifted his body, M could see spikes through his fur, quite a few gathered around his neck, like a mane. A wave of a tail, and now he had nine. 

Frankenstein seemed mindful of his size though, Muzaka staying the same in that regard.

The transformation ended there, Muzaka’s form settling as the glow dissipated. He took a deep breath as he opened his eyes, shaking a bit as if to better settle into his new form.

Frankenstein smiled at him, before looking back at M. 

“Just like creating the sigil.”

“Right,” M exhaled, clenching and unclenching his hands. He glanced at Kentas, who seemed extremely excited about the prospect. M wasn’t sure if it was because he was uncomfortable, being squished in a tiny room for quite a while now, or because it would be M who’d help him take another form.“Let’s… try,” M said, unsure, and lifted his hand to Kentas.

Kentas pressed his forehead into M’s palm, a soft, pleased rumble in his throat. Just like before, M closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel.

As if dipping his hand into a river, he could feel the flow of energy, both Kentas’ and his own, around them, enveloping them, creating them. He felt the threads of their bodies; his own were quite rigid, impossible to tug at without breaking, but Kentas’ were… malleable. As if he could coax them into something else, something new. 

The moment he touched them, he felt Kentas flinch against his palm, yet, he felt no pain coming from his demon, just… surprise.

M breathed in relief. Good. He hadn’t hurt him. 

He trusted that if he were to do something wrong, Frankenstein would help him, stop him at least.

Yet more than that, Kentas trusted him. After that moment of surprise, M could feel Kentas allow himself, his very own soul to be held into M’s palms. It was something… M has never felt before. Something he didn’t feel… ready to confront right now. 

It almost felt like he was running away from the feeling as he hurried to tug at the threads, the flow of energy moving with him. Small. Right. He just had to get Kentas to be smaller. Not think of how readily, how gladly Kentas trusted him with his very own soul.

The threads rearranged themselves, shifting and waving through one another until they created the new form Kentas would take. M felt it settle, felt Kentas’ giant head no longer pressing against his palm and – 

– heard Muzaka burst out laughing. 

M’s eyes snapped open, terror gripping his heart when he saw Kentas was no longer there, was no longer in the room, was gone – 

“Ah, it seems I had forgotten to mention you should have a clear image in your mind while doing this. Simply going by a concept doesn’t always yield exact results, as it does for the sigils,” Frankenstein said, his voice warm and airy, as if he wanted to laugh too.

M looked at his feet and sure enough, Kentas was there. Only he was _small_ small. Pomeranian-sized small.  


_Shit._

** TO BE CONTINUED... **


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peek in the past, to the time when Frankenstein had first summoned Muzaka.

The first time, it took his leg.

It would’ve consumed more of him if he hadn’t the presence of mind to destroy the sigil before that _thing_ crawled its way into the human world.

Just the memory of it sent shivers down Frankenstein’s spine. That twisted, violent, awful creature, the way it sought to burrow itself into the marrow of his very bones, grabbing onto his leg like a drowning man seeking purchase to rise above the waters, those hungry maws closing around him, about to swallow him whole.

But above all, he remembered _him._ Something else reached through, calling to him. Something familiar, something that left him yearning, like a child yearning for a family they never had.

Despite the disaster, despite his brush with death, it left Frankenstein wishing to try again. Even if only to explain to himself what he had felt that moment.

Of course, things could never go as one wishes.

The Union found out, found him out. They took him and his research, saw its potential, they saw the mark his first try left on him, and decided they should try again. After all, harvesting demon power was something their organization sought to accomplish for years now.

Despite his protests, despite him telling them they were making a grave mistake, they drew the same sigil as the first time.

It was _wrong._

That thing would come through again! It would devour anything and everything in its path. It had no master and would take none. It could not be bound.

They did not listen.

The sigil was drawn and he was the sacrifice.

The tear in the fabric of the world began to open, Frankenstein watching with wide eyes as the creature dragged itself into their world, terror flowing through his veins as this time, he was powerless to stop it.

Yet, this time, _he_ was ready too. _He_ snarled and sank his fangs into the creature, dragging it back, fighting to cross through first.

“It’s wrong!” Frankenstein cried. “Don’t!” The sigil was not fit for him, it would hurt him, it would –

– but _he_ crossed through still.

Frankenstein stared, speechless, whether from the shock of pain that rang through him, or the sight before him, he was unsure.

A beast stood before him, or rather, what was left of one, at least. It resembled a corpse, the body of a wolf as it decomposed, white bones glinting in the dimly lit room, held together by what seemed like a writhing mass of black ink.

His jaws opened, the bones clacking as they moved against one another, and from the hollow of his chest, the creature said, _“Safe…”_

Somehow, Frankenstein believed him.

** ~ Z ~ **

He was unsure for how long they’d run for. It was hard to tell. All the trees they passed by looked all the same, and in that darkened forest, time seemed to have come to a standstill.

They’ve eventually taken shelter in a rundown cabin they’ve found deep in the woods, as far away from the Union as possible. They were safe, for now, but their time was running out. Muzaka had made quick work of everyone in the sanctuary, but there was no telling how many other acolytes there were and how many would come hunting for them.

He was exhausted to the point where, if he could still feel his bad leg and stand on it, he would’ve fallen asleep right then and there.

“I need to send you back,” Frankenstein said, his voice soft and tired, as if even speaking those words took more energy than he had left.

The creature growled or whimpered or both, a choir of a thousand voices, _”No.”_

“You’re hurting. I can feel your pain,” Frankenstein insisted, tears gathering in his eyes. He couldn’t do this… he couldn’t allow Muzaka to suffer like this… being this… thing. He needed to send him back. Break the contract. Even if that meant not seeing him again.

He saw him for a moment. It was enough.

“’s not bad.”

“Liar.”

“I’m with you. It is alright.”

“No, it’s not,” Frankenstein pushed himself to go to the demon. He put a hand on his snout, feeling the cold, lifeless bone under his hand. It was wrong.

This… this form wasn’t who Muzaka was, Frankenstein knew it. The sigil was wrong, it couldn’t encompass him, couldn’t allow him to pass through completely.

“Wish I could feel you,” Muzaka murmured, pressing his snout against his palm. “Can’t feel anything. Just… hurts… a little,” he hurried to correct himself.

“I’ll try again!” Frankenstein said, with renewed vigor, and something in his heart told him that this time, it would be right.

“What if I can’t find you again?” Muzaka asked.

“You found me twice now. You’ll find me a third time. I’ll be here, waiting for you,” Frankenstein said, pressing his forehead to the wolf’s.

“If this is your wish…”

“I want you here, I want to get to know you, but I don’t want you in pain,” Frankenstein reasoned, because he could feel Muzaka hold onto the tethers that grounded him to this world. Frankenstein couldn’t so easily let him go. “Please…”

A moment of hesitation, then, “Very well. If we never see each other again, I’m happy to have met you just once.”

and he was gone.

It left such a glaring, gaping emptiness inside of Frankenstein’s heart that tears started flowing all of their own accord. It felt as if the emptiness would swallow him whole and –

No. Now was not the time for that.

Frankenstein promised him he’d try again and that this time, he’d do it right, and he would.

He knew what he had to do. He furiously wiped his tears away and started drawing, letting the flow of energy take him where it wanted. With each stroke, each line, each circle, the sigil grew and grew, taking more and more space, becoming something else entirely, compared to his first try, and this time, it felt _right._

Frankenstein laughed, tears still in his eyes when he felt his energy pour through the unfinished sigil, eagerly, like a river finding a crack in a dam, moments before it broke through.

This time, it was right!

One last line and the dam broke, Frankenstein welcoming Muzaka with laughter as the cabin broke around them, Muzaka’s enormous form turning the small building to splinters, birds flying away from the nearby trees.

Different. So, so different.

Muzaka was something of a wolf, with silver fur, a mane of spikes around his neck. He also happened to be gigantic, Frankenstein barely the size of one of his paws.

He breathed in deeply, as if relishing in the feeling, before he looked down at Frankenstein, the same delighted grin on his lips. “Found ya again!” He roared happily and scared some more birds away.

“Knew you would,” Frankenstein said, pressing his forehead against Muzaka’s snout when he leaned in, and then promptly –

– passed out.

** TO BE CONTINUED... **


End file.
